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Solutions for Singers: Tools for Performers and Teachers

RICHARD MILLER

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

SOLUTIONS FOR S IN G E R S

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SOLUTIONS < FOR = S ING E RS Tools for Performers and Teachers

RICHARD MILLER

1 2004

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Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto

Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York, 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Miller, Richard, 1926 – Solutions for singers: tools for performers and teachers / Richard Miller. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: pt. 1. Breath management—pt. 2. Posture—pt. 3. Laryngeal and intra-laryngeal function—pt. 4. Resonance balancing. ISBN 0-19-516005-3 1. Singing—Questions and answers. 2. Singing—Instruction and study. I. Title. MT820.M5993 2003 783⬘.04— dc21 2002041661

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

In Memoriam William McIver

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AC KN OW LE DG MENT S

I wish to thank my friends and colleagues Carol Sedgwick, D. M. A., and Shirley Zielinski, Ph.D., for reading manuscript drafts and offering me sensible advice. Additional thanks are due final-draft peer evaluators, unknown to me, whose comments were exceedingly helpful. I am grateful to members of the editing and production staff of Oxford University Press for their ready assistance. To Richard Sjoerdsma, editor of Journal of Singing, my thanks for permission to rework some items I have previously touched on in a regularly contributed sotto voce column for that journal. My biggest debt is owed Mary, my wife, who continues to be my guiding light in this, as in all ventures.

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PREFACE

Over several decades it has been my privilege to meet with singers and teachers in weeklong courses devoted to the art of singing, in which the correspondence of efficient physiologic and acoustic function to artistic expression is considered in detail. Half of each day is devoted to systematic technique, the remainder to master classes in communication. Several thousand teachers, students, and professional singers have participated. To ensure sequential information, and to avoid interruption of master class performances, observers are asked to write out questions as they occur to them. Questions are then codified and discussed in question-andanswer sessions at the close of the week. These inquiries often go to the heart of vocal pedagogy, pointing out watersheds that separate voice-training systems. This book deals with a number of them—some briefly, some in detail. Recurring topics have been selected from more than fifteen hundred written questions. They deal with both technique and artistry. Falling into specific categories, they consider a single topic from several angles. I have tried to tailor my responses to the specifics of each question. Associated issues are assembled within overall categories; related questions have been joined together. Technical areas considered involve breath coordination, laryngeal function, resonator-tract response, resonance balancing, voice categorization, voice registration, linguistic articulation, vibrancy, matters of style, the enhancement of artistry and communication, pedagogic and professional attitudes and concerns, and healthy voice production. In answering variations on similar themes, for clarity and completeness, it has occasionally been necessary to revisit important facets of information.

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Certain topics require at least some minimal anatomical and acoustical background. For that reason, a few illustrations have been included. The intent of this book, however, is not to detail the structure of the voice as an instrument (something I have previously attempted), but to engage in pragmatic tutoring, and to share historic and contemporary vocal philosophies with professional performers, students, and teachers. A glossary of terms for quick reference and a select bibliography are included. A reader may proceed sequentially or selectively. The book has been written in response to requests such as the following: QUESTION I appreciated the information supplied by the course on systematically approaching vocal pedagogy. But sometimes the most practical came from the concluding question-and-answer sessions where teachers raised specific problems they have to deal with in the studio. It would be very helpful to see a book of answers devoted to those specific problems. Why don’t you write one? RELATED QUESTION

In every master class I have ever attended, no matter who the teacher may be, I always come up with questions as to why certain approaches were taken rather than others. I understand that in order not to disturb the singer you are working with, you ask for written questions to be considered on the final day. These last day discussions are especially interesting, but the questions and the answers are not permanently recorded. Shouldn’t they be in book form? ANOTHER RELATED QUESTION

It would be great to have an entire course on nothing but singers’ questions and answers! Since that may be impractical, why not compile the questions that have surfaced, together with the answers you have given? If you do it, please deal with each question separately and don’t wad them all together in one comprehensive answer. As you can tell from the questions asked, people look at a topic from different angles, and they want more than a generalized response. YET ANOTHER RELATED QUESTION

When are you going to write a text offering solutions to common, and not so common, problems that we as performers all deal with?

COMMENT Here it is! Answers will not please every reader. My responses are at times knowingly controversial, but I am emboldened to toss them into the great steaming pedagogic cauldron, because it is my conviction that these answers originate

PREFACE

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in the mainstream of historic vocalism developed over several centuries, here viewed in the light of current factual information. The suggested solutions are traditional and reside in the pedagogic public domain; they do not originate with me. I have largely avoided responding to medical questions and to many dealing with vocal health, because I am convinced that teachers of singing should teach voice and not practice medicine, just as I believe that medical doctors and researchers do best when diagnosing and prescribing, not when teaching voice. Some other questions that were submitted in courses have not been included in this book because I do not have sufficient expertise to deal with them. There is unceasingly much more to discover, and sharing experiences is itself a form of learning. I wish to thank the many performers and teachers who have had the insight and curiosity to raise issues that constitute the essence of voice pedagogy. I hope my comments will be of help.

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CONTENTS

1

BREATH MANAGEMENT Appoggio versus Belly Breathing (Bauchaussenstütz) 1 Protruding the Stomach Wall 4 How Long Should It Take to Acquire the Appoggio? 5 Routining the Onset, Silent Breathing Exercises, and the Farinelli Maneuver 5 The Short Onset 8 Appoggio della Nucca 8 Explaining the Appoggio to Junior and Senior High School Students 10 La Lotta Vocale 11 Rigidity in the Support Mechanism 12 Resonator/Larynx/Breath 12 Singing on the Gesture of Inhalation 13 Atmospheric Pressure and the Singing Voice 14 The Breath-Management Candle Test 14 Expelling Air from the Lungs 16 Leaning on the Breath 17 Holding the Breath 17 Natural Breathing 18 Tanking up for Long Phrases 21

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Pressed Phonation 21 Increasing Energy but Not Volume 23 Upper-Dorsal Breathing 23 Nose Breathing 25 Air Pressure Levels in High and Low Singing 26 Correcting High-Breath Emission Levels in Young Female Voices 26 Singing on the Breath 27 Breathy Singing in Youthful Female Upper Range 28 Energy Levels in Tenor and Baritone Voices 28 Precision in the Release 31 Sensation Associated with Melismatic Movement (the Bouncing Epigastrium) 31 Abdominal-Wall Muscle Contact 34

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POSTURE Always Noble and Axial? 35 Breaking Stance and Shifting the Body Weight The Swayback Singer 37 The Falling Sternum 39 The Garcia Position 39 Singing in the Supine Position 41 Sitting or Standing to Vocalize? 42 Physical Movement during Singing 42 Neck Tension 44 Can the Head Be Held Too Low? 45 Neck Protrusions during Singing 45

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LARYNGEAL AND INTRALARYNGEAL FUNCTION Myoelastic/Aerodynamic Source of Vocal-Fold Vibration Abduction and Adduction 48 Heavy and Light Laryngeal Mechanisms 50 False Vocal Folds 51 Epiglottic Behavior during Singing 54 The Trachea as a Resonator 55 Elevating and Lowering the Larynx 55 Separating the Thyroid and Cricoid Cartilages? 58 Flow Phonation 59 Adding Air to Pressed Phonation 60 Damping 61

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CONTENTS

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RESONANCE BALANCING The Vocal Tract 63 Chiaroscuro 63 Vowel Definition and the IPA Symbols 65 Keeping Uniformity of Timbre throughout the Changing Vowel Spectrum 66 Voce Aperta and Voce Chiusa 67 The Role of Sensation in Singing 68 Sympathetic Vibration 69 Ear-Cupping as an Acoustic Device 70 Formant Information. Why? 72 Maintaining the Male 3K (3000 Hz) Factor in Back Vowels 73 Maintaining the First Formant (the Oscuro Factor) in Female High Range 74 Falling Back on the Vowel /ɑ/ 75 Dealing with the Vowel /u/ 76 Using the Good Vowel /υ/ 77 Using Phonetic /œ/ and /ø/ Mixtures as Transition Vowels 78 Using /æ/ as Pedagogic Assist in Resonance Balancing 79 L’imposto 80 Forward Placement 81 Tenor and Baritone Resonances 82 Una Bocca Raccolta 83 Si Canta come Si Parla; Chi Pronuncia Bene Canta Bene 84 The Idiot Jaw 84 Three Fingers in the Mouth 85 Knödel 87 Pulling Down on the Jaw 87 Relaxing the Tight Jaw 88 TMJ and the Singing Voice 89 Submandibular Muscles 90 Mouth Shapes in High Piano and Forte 91 Sfogato Timbre 91 Using the Zygomatic Muscles 92 Elevating the Fascia of the Cheek Region 93 Faucial Arch 94 Upper-Lip Tension 95 Directing Attention to the Tongue 95 Learned, Habitual, or Natural Tongue Positions? 96 Tongue-Point Trill 97 Lip Trilling 98

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CONTENTS

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External-Frame Support and the Trembling Jaw and Tongue Back Tongue Tension 102 Retroflex Tongue 103 Structure of the Nose 105 Flaring the Nostrils and Wrinkling the Forehead 106 The Scotch Tape Threat 108 Making Space in the Throat? 108 Throat Sensation during Singing 109

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NASAL CONTINUANTS AND NONNASAL CONSONANTS IPA Symbols for Consonants 111 Correcting Nasality 112 Velum Lowering 112 Nasals Followed by Vowels 113 Duration of Sung French Nasals 114 Voiced and Nonvoiced Consonant Pairs 115 Using Pilot Consonants for Adjusting the Resonator Tract Anticipatory Consonants 116 Consonant Doubling 118 Consonants as Assists in Creating Legato 118 Ich and Ach 119 Learning to Flip and to Roll the /r/ Phoneme 120

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THE PHENOMENON OF VIBRATO Free-Swinging Vibrancy 121 Identifying and Steadying Vibrato Rate 122 Coloratura and Vibrato 122 Trill 123 Trillo 124 Vibrato in the Young Singer 125 Spectrographic Vibrato Display 126 Using Straight Tone as a Pedagogic Tool 126 Is There a Germanic versus an Italianate Vibrato Rate?

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REGISTRATION Fach Designations in the Young Male Voice 129 Evaluating Fach Change from Baritone to Tenor 132 Chest Voice in the Low-Voiced Male 134

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CONTENTS

Tension Buildup during Soprano High-Lying Phrases 135 Narrowing at the Passaggio 136 Developing Upper Range 137 Low-Range Loss in the Female Voice after High-Range Singing How Much Female Chest Is Too Much? 140 Early Steps for Developing Female Chest Voice 140 Weak Spots in the Female Scale 141 Flageolet 142 The Role of Falsetto in the Tenor Voice 143 Is There a Female Falsetto? 147 Voce Finta 148 Falsetto and Airflow 149 More on Falsetto 149 Vocal Glissando (Extended Portamento) 150 Mezza Voce 151 Belting 151 Register Separation 152 Countertenoring 153 Strohbass 156 Vocal Fry 157 Baryton Martin 158 Young Tenors and Upper Range 158 Laryngeal Elevation and Throat Tension at the Tenor Secondo Passaggio 159 Laryngeal Elevation at the Baritone Primo Passaggio 160 Early Covering in the Young Male Voice 160 Vowel Modification at the Male Passaggio 162 Extending the Low Range in Young Male Voices 163 Inserted /h/ (“ha”) in High-Lying Intervallic Tenor Leaps 164 Cracking in Male Voices 165 Intermittent Cracking on the Male High Note 166

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HEALTHY SINGING The Singing Athlete 169 Increasing the Size of the Voice 172 Dreadful Speaking Voices 173 Obesity and the Appoggio 174 Weight Reduction and the Singing Voice Water Babies 176 Flushing of the Face and Neck 177 Voice Rest? When? How Long? 178

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Marking 179 Sensation of Phlegm at the Male Secondo Passaggio Gargling 180 Nasal Irrigation 181 Inhaling Steam 181 Tea, Honey, and Lemon 182 Vocal Skill and Vocal Longevity 183

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PEDAGOGY ISSUES Establishing or Altering a Tonal Concept 187 Syntax of Voice Technique 189 National Tonal Preferences 190 American School/American Sound? 192 Literature Styles and Voice Technique 193 The Reluctant Student 195 What Is the Best Musical Training for a Singer? 197 Repertoire for Beginners 199 Musically Unmusical 199 The Second Half of the Note 201 Exchange of Studio Information 201 Pedagogic Justification 204 Nurturing the Singing Instrument 206 Teaching as Learning 208 Teaching Young Voices 208 Is One Technique Possible for All? 209 Dissimilar Voice Techniques in Performance 211 Completing the Technical Work 212 Uniting Technique and Literature 213 Female and Male Voice Modeling 214 Syntactic Doubling in Italian 215 Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano Instruction 216 Searching for a New Voice Teacher 217 Is There a Racial Sound in Classically Trained African American Singers? 218 How Much Should a Singer Know? 222

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PERFORMANCE CONCERNS Learning to Portray Emotion 225 Internal and External Listening 227 The Problem of Faulty Intonation 228

CONTENTS

Flatting on Final Descending Notes 229 Amplification of Opera Performance 230 Rehearsal Room versus Hall Dynamics 231 The Relativity of Voice Dynamics 231 Messa di Voce 232 Prephonatory Tuning 233 Oratorio versus Opera 234 Performance Attire 235 Performance-Day Diet 236 Solo Singer in a Choral Setting 237 Tenor Choral Falsetto 238 British Treble Choral Tradition 240 Gesticulation in Singing, and the Kinesthetic Sense Reasonable Warm-up Time 243 Flying on Automatic Pilot 244 The Broadway Sound 245 Holistic Singing 247

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Glossary of Terms 249 Appendix I. Pitch Designations 257 Appendix II. IPA Symbols for Vowels, Semivowels, and French Nasal Vowel Sounds 259 Appendix III. IPA Symbols for Consonant Sounds 261 Appendix IV. Repertoire for Younger or Beginning Singers 263 Select Bibliography 273 Index 281

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SOLUTIONS FOR S IN G E R S